Fake 'Faun' Sculpture Fools Top Museum

A half-man, half-goat ceramic figure supposedly
sculpted by 19th century French artist Paul Gauguin has delighted
aficionados visiting the Art Institute of Chicago for a decade, but
now the museum says "The Faun" is a fake.
"No one could think of any other instance in which anything
like this happened here," the director of public affairs at the
institute, Erin Hogan, told the Chicago Tribune for a story posted
Tuesday on its Web site. "So we don't have experience in this
area."
The museum said the sculpture is among scores of forgeries
produced by the Greenhalgh family, which has been under
investigation by authorities in Great Britain for nearly two years.
A private dealer bought the piece at Sotheby's in 1994 and the
Art Institute purchased it from the dealer three years later.
A British judge sentenced Shaun Greenhalgh, 47, to four years
and eight months in prison last month. His mother, Olive, 83,
received a suspended term of 12 months, and his father, George, 84,
was to be sentenced later.
Shaun Greenhalgh created the fakes, while his parents handled
most of the sales. All three pleaded guilty earlier this year to
defrauding art institutions and other buyers over 17 years. They
had also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to laundering the proceeds
from the sale of a fake Egyptian statuette.
The creations by the Greenhalghs also included Assyrian stone
reliefs, and several copies of paintings by American artist Henry
Moran.
Hogan declined to reveal the purchase price of the discredited
piece and said the Art Institute was talking with Sotheby's and the
private dealer about possible compensation.
"Everyone who bought and sold (the work) did so in good
faith," he said.